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Friday, December 6, 2013

Woe, Is Me was an American metalcore band from Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 2009, the group was signed to Rise Records and its subsidiary, Velocity Records. Their debut album, Number[s], was released on August 31, 2010 and charted at number 16 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart. Due to many lineup changes and conflicts, the only original member who remained in the band through its entire run was guitarist Kevin Hanson. The band broke up in September 2013.

History :

* Formation and Number[s] (2009–2011)

Woe, Is Me was founded during the fall of 2009 in Atlanta by former Of Machines drummer Austin Thornton, who started the band along with Kevin Hanson, Cory Ferris, and Ben Ferris, who were all formerly of a local Atlanta-based band named Cheyne Stokes. Tim Sherrill, who played lead guitar of another local group named Shooter McGavin, also joined in. These five members then recruited vocalists Michael Bohn and Tyler Carter, respectively for unclean and clean vocal positions after their departure from A Path Less Traveled, another local group. With this seven-member lineup, the band recorded a three-song demo with producer Cameron Mizell containing the songs "Hell, or High Water", "I" and "If Not, for Ourselves" which were released to their Myspace profile. The group later recorded and released a cover of the Kesha song "Tik Tok", also showcased online within a few months of being a band. Soon after these recordings were released, The Artery Foundation took notice of them. Rise Records, along with their imprint label, Velocity Records, signed Woe, Is Me before even playing their first show. They recorded their debut album, Number[s] during the same month that they were signed. It was subsequently released on August 31, 2010. It reached position No. 16 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart. The band's debut tour, the Pyknic Partery tour, was shared with Drop Dead, Gorgeous, From First to Last, Sleeping with Sirens, Abandon All Ships, For All Those Sleeping, and Attila.

Clean vocalist Tyler Carter's soul-influenced voice garnered comparisons to Jonny Craig, who provides guest appearances on the album. The group held an album release show in Georgia for Number[s] on September 2, 2010 with pop punk band Veara as a supporting act. Later in September, the band recorded a cover of the Katy Perry song "Hot n Cold" for the compilation album, Punk Goes Pop 3.

In an interview with radio station The Gunz Show, Carter stated that the band would be recording a music video for "[&] Delinquents" in September 2010. The group embarked on a Canadian tour supporting Abandon All Ships from October 1, 2010 to the 28th of that month. From November 4, 2010 to November 28, 2010, the band was included on a US tour entitled Average Guys with Exceptional Hair Tour in support of A Skylit Drive, along with For All Those Sleeping, Scarlett O'Hara, and Motionless in White. The music video for "[&] Delinquents" was released on the first of December of that year.

* "Fame > Demise" and line-up instability (2010–2011)

By the end of 2010, lead guitarist Tim Sherrill parted ways with Woe, Is Me. The band acquired Atlanta resident Jack Langdell to perform as a touring member and to write & record the single "Fame > Demise" alongside them. Geoffrey Higgins then took up the position in March 2011. Soon after, the group officially released "Fame > Demise" (pronounced fame over demise) through the iTunes Store on March 21, 2011. Carter explained that the song is and would only remain as a single, and would not be part of the band's second album. An acoustic version of the song was also released.

In June 2011, lead guitarist Geoffrey Higgins also departed from the band. The group began their performances on Warped Tour with only Hanson performing the rhythm guitar parts to where leads were backtracked during performances for the time being due to their lack of a lead guitarist. With the band yet again searching for a lead guitar player, the conclusion of their search was made weeks afterward where Abandon All Ships' drummer and guitarist, Dan and Andrew Paiano were kicked from the band. Almost immediately afterward, it was announced that Andrew would be joining Woe, Is Me to play lead guitar. In 2011, clean vocalist, Tyler Carter left the band. He cited an interest in following newer and different objectives than being in a band and went on to state that "[the rock 'n' roll lifestyle] and what it consists of just isn't for me anymore" as the reason for his departure.

* "Vengeance", Number[s] re-issue, and Genesi[s] (2011–2012)

On September 15, 2011, Woe, Is Me announced via-video update their new singer, Hance Alligood. Alligood was once a part of a local Atlanta band, "Oh, Manhattan". Along with this update, the group also played various clips from a new single entitled, "Vengeance", which was released on September 27. On March 7, 2012, Michael Bohn and both Ferris brothers left the band due to personal, professional, and musical differences.

"It came to a point where we could either continue on the path they saw fit, or we could create our own path and find happiness in our own ways," said Bohn and the Ferris brothers in a statement made shortly after their departure from the band. They have since reconciled with former bandmate, Tyler Carter, and created a new band named Issues with their friend, Case Snedecor.

On April 16, 2012, touring members Doriano Magliano (former vocalist for That's Outrageous!) and bassist Brian Medley officially announced they had joined Woe, Is Me. The band is set to enter the studio throughout summer 2012 with a release set sometime later this year. On April 19, 2012, Woe, Is Me were announced as part of the "Scream It Like You Mean It 2012" tour (July–August 2012) alongside headliner Attack Attack! with We Came as Romans, The Acacia Strain, Oceano, Like Moths to Flames, Close to Home, Impending Doom, Abandon All Ships, Secrets, Volumes, For All Those Sleeping, The Chariot, Glass Cloud, At The Skylines, Texas in July, In Fear and Faith, and Hands Like Houses.

* Departure of Austin Thornton, American Dream, and break up (2012-2013)

On March 8, 2013 the band released a statement that they had parted ways with drummer and founding member Austin Thornton, due to personal differences. As of Thornton's departure, Kevin Hanson was the only original member in the band. With the release of the statement, the band also stated that they are planning on releasing a new single in June. On April 25, Woe, Is Me stated on their Facebook page that they will be tracking their new music with Tom Denney. They plan to release it during the summer. A recent interview with the band and lead singer Hance in particular gave insight towards the feel of the new album that they are working on. "The singing/screaming ratio is more balanced, whereas Genesis had a lot more screaming and heavy parts. Doriano and I will share vocal responsibilities and have equal singing/screaming parts. Genesis had lots of breakdowns/chug parts, which don’t get me wrong, were cool. But, the heavy parts on this new stuff will be more riffy and more fun to move to. The choruses will still have the same pop feel to them as the ones from Genesi".

On June 15, 2013, during the first show of Warped Tour, Woe, Is Me announced they would be releasing a new EP later in the year. They later released a new song called "Stand Up," which was announced as the first single from the EP, titled American Dream. It is the first record to not have the Woe, Is Me symbol. It was announced sometime around Warped tour started that David Angle will be the band's new drummer. David Angle played drums for a band called At the Skylines. In a recent Warped Tour update video on the bands youtube page, they showed vocalist Danny Leal (Upon a Burning Body) tracking vocals for the title track.

On August 5, Woe, Is Me's official Twitter page announced that they will be in the studio to record their third album sometime in October.

On August 17, the band released the second song, "American Dream".

On September 18, Alternative Press wrote an exclusive article that the band has broken up. They included a personal post from vocalist Hance Alligood stating that he had "lost passion" for the genre and had decided to leave the band on good terms. As a result, the remaining members decided to disband instead of going through another line-up change.

Alligood also stated in the Alternative Press interview that he will be working on a solo album soon. Brian Medley posted a new song on soundcloud and has a band called Heartfelt in the works. Andrew Paiano has started a dance project titled Modiano which can be found on twitter.